Background: At headspace Bondi Junction a surge in referrals followed COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020, causing longer wait times for young people accessing mental health support. In response, a clinical redesign project was initiated.
Key solutions were the implementation of the health technology platform ‘Innowell’ to guide intake and assessment, and a peer worker acting as a digital navigator in young people’s mental health care journeys.
Aims: Decrease wait times:
- Intake triage within 2 days compared to 8 days
- Assessment within 2 weeks compared to 8 weeks
- Psychological treatment within 1 month compared to 3 months
Reduce young people reporting ‘waiting too long’ for psychological treatment from 82% to 30%
Increase scores on an experience of service survey in domains of participation in care and the impact of care:
- Participation: improve to 95% from 91%
- Impact: improve to 70% from 65%
Methods: The project adopted a 5-stage implementation methodology with each stage co-designed with young people. Evaluation is mixed-methods, incorporating qualitative interviews with staff, young people and carers.
Results: Preliminary results demonstrate positive trends:
Wait times:
- Intake within 4 days
- Assessment within 2.14 weeks
- Psychological treatment within 1.13 months
30% of young people reporting ‘waiting too long’
Experience of service:
- Participation: 89%
- Impact: 68%
Conclusions: Including lived experience voices in digital youth mental health interventions is vital and impactful. However, refinement is needed to optimise integration of a peer workforce.